Delia Fleishhacker Ehrlich, noted SF philanthropist, dies at 85

Delia Fleishhacker Ehrlich, a noted San Francisco philanthropist, died recently following a stroke. She was 85. Her forebears, who came to California in the 1850s, were deeply involved in the city’s business, social and charitable functions, and she created the Macy’s Passport four-day fashion show fundraiser that raised money for HIV/AIDS related causes. less

Delia Fleishhacker Ehrlich, a noted San Francisco philanthropist, died recently following a stroke. She was 85. Her forebears, who came to California in the 1850s, were deeply involved in the city’s business, ... more

Photo: Chris Hardy, SFC

Photo: Chris Hardy, SFC

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Delia Fleishhacker Ehrlich, a noted San Francisco philanthropist, died recently following a stroke. She was 85. Her forebears, who came to California in the 1850s, were deeply involved in the city’s business, social and charitable functions, and she created the Macy’s Passport four-day fashion show fundraiser that raised money for HIV/AIDS related causes. less

Delia Fleishhacker Ehrlich, a noted San Francisco philanthropist, died recently following a stroke. She was 85. Her forebears, who came to California in the 1850s, were deeply involved in the city’s business, ... more

Photo: Chris Hardy, SFC

Delia Fleishhacker Ehrlich, noted SF philanthropist, dies at 85

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Delia Fleishhacker Ehrlich, a noted San Francisco philanthropist whose family helped develop the Comstock mines, bring electricity to California and contribute to the city’s culture with contributions to education and the fine arts, died peacefully at home on Sunday after suffering a stroke. She was 85.

Mrs. Ehrlich was a fourth-generation San Franciscan, the great-granddaughter of Aaron Fleishhacker, a Bavarian immigrant active during the Gold Rush and in the development of the Comstock silver mines, and who made a fortune with the A. Fleishhacker & Co. Paper Box House, a box company.

Her grandfather, Mortimer, was a lumber, paper, banking and hydroelectric power entrepreneur who, with his brother, founded Great Western Power, which later became part of Pacific Gas & Electric. And on a 75-acre estate in Woodside in 1912, he commissioned architect Charles Sumner Greene to create an English manor house with a thatch-like roof, called Green Gables, now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Her great uncle, Herbert Fleishhacker, helped to fund the city’s Fleishhacker Zoo and Fleishhacker Pool, the largest saltwater swimming pool in the world. It closed in 1971 and was demolished in 2000.

Mrs. Ehrlich attended the Hamlin School and Bryn Mawr College, and at 20 in 1950, wed John Ehrlich at Green Gables, an event covered in The Chronicle’s society pages.

She and her husband had six children, two adopted and four natural-born, two of whom were afflicted with Tay-Sachs disease and died in infancy. The fatal genetic condition among some Eastern European Jews affects nerve cells in the brain, which the couple discussed in a 1974 Chronicle story to bring awareness to the issue.

After divorcing in the 1970s, Mrs. Ehrlich worked at Macy’s, establishing the department store’s personal shopping service and running its community relations in seven states for 11 years. She was responsible for Macy’s volunteer program and helped establish Macy’s Passport, a fundraising fashion show that in its heyday was a four-night extravaganza that drew celebrity guests including Earvin “Magic” Johnson and Elizabeth Taylor. Proceeds went to HIV/AIDS causes.

Among the most coveted invitations in her social circle was her family’s July 4 party at Green Gables, a folksy event with hot dogs, corn on the cob, lemonade and a Dixieland band. Guests explored the manor house, the lawn and stairs leading to an immense Roman water garden with reflecting pool.

Mrs. Ehrlich was predeceased by her brother, Mortimer Fleishhacker III. In addition to her brother, David, she is survived by her former husband, John Ehrlich of San Francisco; two sons, John Ehrlich Jr. of Berkeley and James Sidney Ehrlich of San Francisco; two daughters, Joan Delia “Jodie” Ehrlich of Los Angeles and Jill Diane Ehrlich of Grants Pass, Ore.; and four grandchildren.